Instant messaging invading Hong Kong workplace, new survey says

Instant messaging services are invading the office and changing the working patterns of Hongkongers, a global study released said on Tuesday, as it found local workers increasingly adopting IM services in the workplace.

Eighty-three per cent of Hong Kong workers reported a heavier use of instant messaging at work in recent years, compared to the global average of 64 per cent, according to a study by Regus, an international serviced office space provider which has a network of 2,300 business centres across 104 countries.

An overwhelming 89 per cent of mainland Chinese workers reported an increased use of instant messaging service, compared to 86 per cent in Taiwan and in South Korea. Only 57 per cent of workers in the United States reported such trend.

Regus interviewed a total of 22,000 workers in more than 100 countries and regions – with 185 respondents responding to the survey from Hong Kong.

The study also found 71 per cent of Hong Kong workers reported to having “worked outside of office hours more frequently” and that 76 per cent of respondents needed to “accommodate last minute changes to meeting times or locations more frequently”.

The figures compared to the global average of 66 per cent and 62 per cent respectively.

Some two-thirds of Hong Kong respondents also complained of feeling “more stressed”, above the global average of 53 per cent.